GAA club returns 15-fold investment locally: study
A groundbreaking study of a leading GAA club has found that for every euro invested into it there is an equivalent benefit of €15 in social value for the community.
The study is the first to quantify in monetary terms the benefit of a GAA club for its community.
It was commissioned by the Na Fianna club on the northside of Dublin and was carried out by a consultancy that specialises in measuring return on social investment.
The 120-page study found that Na Fianna generates €50m in social value annually for the community in which it is based.
An equivalent study in the UK for a sports club found for every pound invested, there was a benefit of two.
Commenting on the findings, the chairman of the Na Fianna club Cormac O’Donnchu said that there had been talk for years about the value each GAA club brings to its community.
But now, for the first time ever, CLG Na Fianna is in a position to put a monetary value on it and frankly these results are astounding.
“When we had first sight of the study’s findings, we were concerned that it might have been overstated so we sent the report for verification to Social Value International, an independent body who stood over and assured the report’s findings.”
The report, compiled by Whitebarn Consulting, evaluated the input into the club on an annual basis at around €3.5m, although only €800,000 of this was in cash, the remainder being assets or proxy figures, particularly volunteer time which was evaluated at €2.4m.
The Na Fianna club is one of the biggest in the county with over 3,000 members fielding 174 teams in all sports.
Outcomes in terms of health, welfare and positive and a wide range of social benefits were then calculated and found to represent a figure in monetary terms equivalent to 15 times the inputs.
